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Brighton grad Ernie Clement leads ACC with 71 hits

Virginia second baseman Ernie Clement, a Brighton graduate, leads the ACC with 71 hits and is batting .348, up from .245 last spring when he was a freshman for the NCAA champions.(Photo: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports)

Clement has 10 doubles and hit his only triple in Sunday's 9-1 win at Pittsburgh, when the Cavs completed a three-game season sweep of the Panthers to improve to 30-17 overall and 14-10 in the ACC. He also ranks third in the league in runs scored (50) and first in sacrifice bunts (14).

He has struck out only 11 times in 204 at-bats. That ranks among the top 20 in the NCAA. Clement said during a Q&A posted on the UVA site that he's more comfortable this season.

"It was tough to balance academics and baseball (last spring), so this year I was able to have a plan and going forward I had a better balance and idea of what I needed to do," Clement said. "With baseball, a whole year of playing last year really helped and now, I can help out the younger guys."

Conner Simonetti:The Fairport graduate and junior first baseman/outfielder is second for Kent State with 11 home runs and third in runs batted in (36). He's batting .287. His 11 HRs match last season's total. He was named the Mid-American Conference Athlete of the Week last month and also its scholar Athlete of the Week.

Cornell connection: Victor graduates Tommy Wagner and Dale Wickham rank 1-2 for the Big Red in batting at .341 and .290, respectively. Wickham, a sophomore outfielder, leads the team in hits (40), runs (24), doubles (9), triples (3) and is second in HRs (five) and RBI (21). Wickham was the All-Greater Rochester Player the Year in 2014; Wagner, a junior infielder, earned the honor in 2013.

JDIVERON@Gannett.com

Base runner Ernie Clement #4 of the Virginia Cavaliers dives back to first base safely against the Vanderbilt Commodores in the College World Series Championship Series on June 23, 2015.(Photo: Peter Aiken, Getty Images)